HTC enters the actual tablet fray with the 7" Flyer w/Android 2.4

J

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Well, it took long enough:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/htc-launches-into-tablet-wars-with-1-5ghz-7-inch-flyer/

And yep, it's pen/stylus enabled, and it appears from the demo videos to be working awfully damned well. As usual, my biggest gripe about such tablets is that damned insanely huge border on the screen; it's too rounded in my opinion, and once again HTC doesn't seem to understand they really need to make the damned camera fixture flush with the surface and not standing out like that as it does. That shit just begs to be damaged... :confused:

4 hours of video playback... oh well, let's hope the smart folk over at XDA-Developers can tear this thing apart at some point and toss some very low voltage kernels on that thing.

Maybe the whole tablet thing is just wearing thin, but I have to admit I expected a lot more from HTC. In some respects one can say it's like an HD2 just larger because it does share some physical similarities, but I won't get one, not even considering it at this point. Somebody needs to make a 7" device with a tiny bezel on it, or make it exceedingly thin 'cause these thick damned devices are a bit ridiculous at this point.

If they can't make a tablet that's thinner than my pinky is wide (diameter), they need to go back to the drawing board.

It looks like the NOOKColor is still the king of the 7" market... on almost all the fronts that matter. ;)
 
Updated video where Engadget had a bit more time to watch someone else demo the Flyer since they wouldn't allow any press people to actually handle the devices when powered on. Talk about silliness in action, geez...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/a-closer-look-at-the-htc-flyers-screen-and-stylus-aka-htc-scri/

It'll have buyers, for sure. There are tons of people that realize the benefits of such technology while still being able to actually jot down a note by hand at times. Now the all important question: what are they going to price this device at... guess we'll find out soon enough.
 
Now it needs the right inking software. Something like One Note, and good handwriting recognition.
 
Yah, that was my first impression as I'm getting into the OneNote side of things of late, hoping to get a tablet here shortly <hint, hint, inside joke... hehe> and would love to get more into the inking side of things with a nice stylus.

Only one big problem here but might not be:

I'm not sure Microsoft will ever develop OneNote for Android... but then again, a month ago nobody even really knew about OneNote for iOS and now it's out there on iPhones, iPod touches, and the iPad.

So, there's hope I suppose. I see HTC is developing Sense for that Flyer and I gotta say I really don't find Sense all that useful - I prefer the straight on Android interface with a launcher that stays outta my way but gets the job done as I like. When I had my HD2 recently I used Launcher Pro as it did precisely what I want a launcher to do, gave easy access to everything in a layout that I preferred, etc.

So let's hope maybe, just maybe Microsoft has some intentions of OneNote for Android too. That alone would make a huge gigantic difference for a lot of people... especially with the Flyer and the stylus it brings to the tablet. ;)
 
Any word on a price yet? I would like to replace my 7.5lbs convertible laptop with a regular laptop and a pen-enabled tabled of some kind.
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
Any word on a price yet? I would like to replace my 7.5lbs convertible laptop with a regular laptop and a pen-enabled tabled of some kind.
Click to expand...

get a 2740p? mine weighs nearly nothing (dont think it sanywhere near 7.5 lbs ;) ) ,


but no, no pricing that i know of......does android have proper inking ability?
 
If by proper inking you mean OS level support for ink as a data type and handwriting recognition then no. I know a lot of people talk about HWR apps that were fairly popular on Windows mobile back in the day but I had several of them and they sucked compared to Windows 7's handwriting recognition and I have a feeling that we're going to see some fruits of Courier in Windows 8 that will pretty much put state of the art HWR beyond Android unless Google invests in it which is unlikely at this point.

HWR and digital ink didn't make Tablet PCs fly off the shelves so I don't think that any major company beyond Microsoft is interested in investing in it any time soon unless their is something like a Courier device that does well commercially.
 
This looks like an awesome tablet. It's exactly what I wanted in a tablet, except it needs HDMI out. Always love the pen for taking notes and such.

Who knows what the price will be, though. I'm sure it'll be $500 or something like everyone else trying to copy the ipad. So far, the Nook color is still the bang/buck champ IMO. Now if only they get bluetooth working on it...
 
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